Norwich Premier League fixtures 2013/14: Everton first up as fixture list throws up mother of all run-ins

So, there you have it – no twists, no surprises. 38 games, 19 home, 19 away – Endemol thankfully having played no part in programming the fixtures computer.

For City, an opener against Everton brings them face to face with Roberto Martinez ­– no doubt still smarting a little from the ignominy of winning the FA Cup and losing a relegation battle in the space of a few days.

While it’s one that’s virtually guaranteed to be pleasing on the eye, the optimist in me thinks that mid-August is a little early for the Spaniard to embed his contemporary, fluid passing philosophy into his new charges.

I have this vision of Leighton Baines (assuming he stays at Goodison) bombing down the left flank and, poised to sling in a cross, has second thoughts and – based on his new manager’s instructions – instead checks, and rolls a pass back 30 metres to the feet of Phil Jagielka. The same vision ends with City romping to a 3-0 win.

All highly unlikely, and done while clutching a handful of straws, but not – I suspect – atypical of your average football supporter; the fixtures guaranteed to instill us all with renewed hope and belief for the season ahead.

With Twitter coming into its own as ‘Wednesday 19th at 9:00am’ approached – those annoying ‘in the know’ souls aside – predictably, every permutation possible was predicted by those willing City to get off to a flyer. Alas, with the fixtures now released that same medium has now gone into meltdown as the Yellow Army cogitates over City’s run-in.

And there’s no dressing it up… it looks horrible. For those who haven’t studied City’s fixtures line-by-line as yet, it is thus:

Liverpool (H)

Man Utd (A)

Chelsea (A)

Arsenal (H)

You don’t need to be Alan Shearer to spot that points are going to be hard to come by over those final weeks, but equally, as demonstrated by City’s final-day win at the Etihad, strange things happen as the season reaches its climax.

I may be alone but – buoyed by that pre-season optimism – I’m happy to trust Chris Hughton and his men to have cobbled together sufficient points come mid-April to render said run-in meaningless (still clutching those straws).

Whether my optimism turns out to be justified is a moot point, but with Liverpool first up in that end-of-season quartet of games I can’t help but feel that they’re owed one – more than one actually.

While our return to the top flight has seen us emerge victorious over both Manchester teams (did I mention we won at the Etihad?) and both north London clubs, our performances against the red half of Merseyside have – for the most part – been woeful.

With those straws still firmly in my grasp, I’m hopeful 2013/14 will be different… but time will tell.

On the Ball City

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